Open carry case of Army Master Sgt. Christopher Grisham could go to jury today

U.S. Army Master Sergeant Christopher “C.J.” Grisham went on a 10-mile hike with his son Chris near Temple, Texas, to help Chris earn a Boy Scout badge. Grisham brought his AR-15 carbine along because of the danger of feral hogs in the area. It is perhaps worth noting that AR-15s are the preferred rifle for many professional feral hogs hunters and guides.

While it is legal to open carry a rifle in Texas, someone called the police on Grisham, and Temple Officer Steve Ermis arrived, at which point things went south quickly. Grisham ended up arrested on a misdemeanor count of interfering with the duties of an officer.

Gun rights supporters were quick to jump to Grisham’s defense, which might not be the smartest idea without knowing more about his background. Grisham doesn’t have clean hands, and was allegedly sent home from Afghanistan because of mental instability (I feel compelled to make the disclosure that though we haven’t chatted in a while, I do know the writer of that post, Michael Yon, via email and phone calls).

Now, back to the case.

Reading between the lines, it looks like it might simply be a clash of egos with Grisham perhaps goading the officer. If Grisham was being belligerent, does that justify an arrest and charges? I frankly don’t know, as we’ve seem very little evidence from the trial. if he was acting in a way that suggested he was mentally unstable, then I would suggest it was a reasonable arrest.

Perhaps the bigger question here is one raised by Yon’s post. Why was Grisham allowed to have weapons in the first place, if the Army thought that he was too mentally unstable to be trusted with arms in a war zone?